In a Corner of Nature
by jbn42
Summary: Our heroes one year after TROS. This is a follow up to Ideas Are Like Stars and Cockpit Conversation.


**Author's Note: FIRST OFF – here be spoilers. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN RISE OF SKYWALKER, THIS WILL CLUE YOU INTO SOME PLOT POINTS THERE. Come back later if you haven't seen it and don't want any clues. I'll keep this warning on any new fics until TROS has been out 10 days. This is a follow up to Ideas Are Like Stars and Cockpit Conversation.**

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**This is still me working through my feelings on TROS. This is a lead up to my one shot that shares a name with this series. It's unrelated to any of my other WIPs. Series title borrowed from a Mary-Chapin Carpenter song. **

**The title of this fic is borrowed from a longer quote from the painter Claude Monet – "My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature." It felt right for Rey.**

**Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.**

One year after the fall of the First Order, many of the leaders and fighters from the former Resistance are coming to Yavin to celebrate, many of them now leaders within the new Republic government. Or, as Poe wryly calls it, "The New New Republic." He's working on cleaning up and airing out one of the old cabins on their land, for guests Kes hadn't really had since the rise of the First Order. Some are cleaned out, but this one wasn't.

They've already invited Rose to stay with them. Lando and Jannah, the latter now confirmed to be Lando's daughter, stolen by the First Order as an infant, will stay in one of Kes's two guest rooms, the other reserved for Maz. Chewie is coming, too, but he likes to sleep on the Falcon.

He and Rey both had been disappointed when Finn said he can't make it. He's still out trying to find his own home. He has some leads from the First Order files they found, but nothing concrete yet. Poe sighs. He and Rey both miss Finn. He'd had a small crush on Finn at first – an attraction he hadn't felt since Muran, but it had faded into a deeper friendship than he'd expected. He hopes they do get to see him soon.

He sees Rey shoot off in Green One as he finishes the work on the last cabin, where he'd made up the beds and put some caf and a few other essentials in the small kitchen. He shakes his head. Rey loves zipping around the nearby valleys and the temple, and she is close to his skill level already at flying the A-Wing.

He frowns briefly. The closest thing they've had to a real fight had been when he'd told her how he left home at sixteen and ended up with the crew on Kijimi. He isn't proud about that time in his life. There was a reason he was reluctant to tell people about it. He'd been desperate to make some credits, and the need for a pilot had circulated on the streets where he was living. He'd volunteered and gotten paid well. It had simply snowballed from there.

Rey had been downright angry with him for leaving Yavin and his dad. He'd been defensive and frustrated, and they'd both ended the conversation with an angry, "Fine!" before storming off to work. According to Rey, Kes had found her whacking viciously at some underbrush with her light saber. He'd apparently told her that she needed to cut Poe some slack about it, to really listen to him about it, about why he'd left. He also told Rey not to be angry on his behalf, that he'd run off to join the army himself at seventeen, and that he'd forgiven Poe a very long time ago.

When Rey had found him and asked him to explain why he'd ever leave here, leave Kes like that, he'd told her the truth, desperate to have her understand. It had been two-fold. First, back then, everywhere he went he saw his mom, and he wasn't mature enough to appreciate that as a good thing and not a source of pain. Second, Kes discouraged the flying, and not long before Poe left, he'd disabled the A-Wing, telling Poe he needed to learn about farming, to help him run the orchard. Sixteen-year-old Poe didn't want that. Sixteen-year-old Poe wanted adventure, wanted to fly.

So, after a particularly nasty row, he'd left, hitching a ride on a supply freighter. He'd regretted it the minute he did his first spice run, but at that point, he was too ashamed to go home and honestly in too deep with the spice crew. It had taken Leia to tell him that all Kes wanted was Poe home, that he didn't care about anything else.

He never confessed to Kes what he'd been doing for the five years he was gone, and Kes didn't know until Finn told him. Rey settled down after they'd talked about it, and while she thinks he was a major nerf-herder for leaving, she says she understands. He knows Rey well enough to know that she wouldn't lie about that, and the matter settled between them.

When Poe left again, to go to the Academy, it was with Kes's blessing. Poe knows that if he hadn't lived the life he had, this quiet life on Yavin might not be enough for him. His road the last several years is how he ended up at peace with this life. Also, to try to atone somewhat, he'd donated over half of the credit stash he'd had from his not-so-legal days to an orphanage on Kijimi. The remaining credits, less the cost of building his house here, he just gave to Rey to start a small Jedi training center.

He blinks, hearing a noise and giving his dad a wave as he goes by, taking some firewood to one of the other cabins. Poe smirks. If his dad is nearby when Poe makes his crack about the "New New Republic," Kes always gives him a stern look worthy of Leia. Poe enjoys those looks. They make him feel better about the fact that Leia isn't here to see them all thriving and free.

Rey, of course, tells him that Leia can most certainly see them. When Rey tells him that Leia's Force ghost told her about how she intercepted a spice run when he was twenty-one to tell Poe to get his ass home to Kes, he stops questioning whether Rey can really talk to the Jedi who have passed on. Poe actually likes the idea that Leia and Luke and many others can still watch them and guide them on occasion.

He's less enamored of the idea that Ben Solo can do the same. Rey told him about the one time Ben appeared to her. She tells him everything these days. He's told her a lot about his own past, about Zorii and Muran and other less memorable relationships. She just listens and nods, and then she will tell him about her life on Jakku about about her time with Luke on Ahch-To and things like flying the Falcon for the first time.

The hardest day was several months ago. He'd woken up and left her in their bed long before first light, and it had taken guidance from a sad Kes to help her find him, hidden high in the branches of the Force tree. She'd joined him up there, bringing him caf and koyo melon from his dad, and he'd told her that it was the anniversary of his mother's death. He'd told her all about his mother, about Shara Bey the Pilot and about Shara Bey the Mom. They'd spent the entire day up in the tree, then gone down to Kes's house where Poe cooked for all of them after hugging his dad for a long time.

The day Rey encountered Ben had caught her off guard. She'd been meditating in the woods, and suddenly he was there, wanting to talk to her. She told Poe it had been awkward – she'd explained to him early on that she'd kissed Ben before he died, an act of extreme emotion under extreme circumstances. She'd hardened and said that Ben did save her, but that his end was the best outcome for everyone. He'd hurt so many people, killed so many. It was best for all to have it end the way it did.

When she'd mentioned him hurting people, he'd visibly flinched and ended up explaining to her how Kylo Ren came to know that BB-8 had the map to Luke. That had been hard for him to confess. Instead of telling him he was weak, though, she'd actually apologized, in her words, "on behalf of Force users." She said that it had happened to her, and that any of the things involving the minds of others was actually the most uncomfortable part of being a Jedi for her. She hates it, he knows now.

Somewhere in the middle of all of their conversations and some almost outrageously enjoyable activities that didn't involve a lot of talking at all, he came to a very clear revelation. He is completely and irrevocably in love with her. He considers himself very lucky that she has made it clear that she reciprocates that.

They aren't married, but that day up in the Force tree, the day he told her all about his mom, he'd slipped the necklace with his mom's ring on it off and put it on her. She hasn't taken it off since. In turn, she took one of her old arm wraps, shredded the leather and wove a wrist-wrap out of it for him. He wears it on his left wrist. His dad noticed both the necklace on Rey and the leather braided wrap around his wrist right away, and he'd just hugged them both and not said anything.

One of Poe's favorite things about Rey coming to Yavin 4 (other than the obvious) has been watching the relationship between Rey and Kes bloom. His dad took her under his wing almost immediately. No one could be less a Jedi than Kes Dameron – he's the first to say so – but he has a lot of living and wisdom to impart to Rey, and she loves to work the orchards next to him, listening to stories Poe has heard a thousand times.

Kes is also the only person who can sneak up on Rey. His Pathfinder training has stuck with him, and between his lack of Force signature and his ability to walk without making a sound has made it a game between him and Rey, her trying to know he's coming, and him trying to get the drop on her. Thus far, Kes is winning. Most might assume that she's annoyed by that, but instead, she revels in it, spending hours trying to separate Kes's signature from the rest of the wildlife and plants here so that she can best him.

She's also been calling him "Dad" almost from the she arrived here. The first time she'd done so, she'd looked warily at Kes, almost seeking a rebuke. He'd just grinned like she'd given him the best gift he'd ever received and gone back to whatever it was he had been doing. That night, he'd asked Rey to stay not just as long as she wants, but forever. She'd said that he was an idiot and of course she was staying forever, as if that was the most obvious thing in the galaxy.

Poe finishes the work on the cabin and heads home to clean up. He knows that Rey will be gone for a while, probably a few hours. She loves flying as much as he does, and she also, surprising to him, loves the lush green jungles of Yavin 4 maybe even more than he does. Under an hour later, people are already arriving. There is a new large orchard a five-minute walk from the house, a place where they'll plant new koyo trees and where Rey is constructing a small dormitory for children and others to come and learn about the Force. She isn't sure how it'll work yet, but he supports her in it and Kes does as well.

His dad has been escorting people to their cabins, and Poe is at the landing site when he hears the unmistakeable roar of a small cruiser. It lands, and R2, C-3PO, Commander D'Acy, her wife, Connix, and Rose all emerge, Rose running to Poe and hugging him tight. She drags Poe into the cruiser the others make their own way, having visited before, the people in search of the cabins and Kes and R-2 and 3PO in search of BB-8 and D-O.

Rose enthusiastically shows him the small shuttle she and Connix found for him, something he wanted for Rey. If she's going to start a training center, he thinks she needs a way to go and fetch students when called. When he'd told Rose that, she'd just said, "You're good people, Poe Dameron. Don't let anyone, yourself included, tell you any different." Rose's approval means a lot to him. His guilt over her losing Paige because of him still eats at him sometimes.

As they emerge from the cruiser, another ship approaches. They both grin when they see that it's the Falcon. They walk up to it, and the ramp lowers as the engines power down. Moments later, he's wrapped up in a hug from Chewie, and Lando and Jannah aren't far behind. When Lando steps back, he says, "Kid, hope you can find room for one more here."

Poe looks to the ramp of the Falcon and breaks out in a grin. He meets Finn halfway up the ramp, hugging him tight. "I thought you couldn't make it!"

Finn smiles sheepishly. "I realized it was stupid. Whatever it is that I'm looking for can wait."

Poe can sense some sadness, and he asks, "What's going on, Finn?"

"They destroyed a lot of the records. Jannah was able to find out about Lando because of genetic testing. For me, we haven't found anything. I don't think I ever will, to be honest." He looks down. "I just don't know what to do."

"Finn, we can help you sort it out if you let us." Poe puts a hand on each of Finn's shoulders and squeezes. "If you don't mind the couch, you can stay with us at my house. Rose is already coming."

Finn nods. "I'd appreciate that, but will Rose be OK with that?"

"Yes, you dummy." They turn and Poe laughs as Rose looks at Finn like he's crazy. "But you definitely are on the couch."

Finn laughs and wraps an arm around Rose. "I know, you and Rey get the guest room."

Rose shoots Poe a confused look at that. She's well aware of his relationship with Rey, but they haven't broadcast it. It's been a year since they saw Finn. Rose and Chewie (and Maz, who honestly knows everything) may be the only ones who know about him and Rey. He's not sure how to tell Finn. He just shrugs at Rose as Finn adds, "Where is Rey, by the way?"

At that moment, Green One streaks overhead, going in to land by their house. Poe grins. "Right there."

Finn rolls his eyes. "Of course."

They head for the houses, Rose dropping back to walk with Finn. Poe thinks about their friend. He never did find out what Finn had been planning to tell Rey, but she has an idea that it has to do with his Force sensitivity. He hopes that's the case. He knows he'd been jealous back during the final days of the war, probably without any cause. He'd admitted as much to Rey, and she'd laughed lightly, saying, "Flyboy, Finn is my friend. I love him and always will. But this between us is different. You're my home."

That had reassured him, but he's a little uneasy again now. When they get to the house, Rey is already inside. They head in, showing Finn where to drop his bag. A moment later, Rey shrieks, "Finn!" Even Poe has to laugh when Rey nearly tackle-hugs their friend, who looks a little confused, as Rey emerged from the bedroom she shares with Poe and not the room where they just put Rose's bag. Rose just shoots Poe a look, and he shrugs. Finn's not an idiot. He'll eventually sort it out.

X

Rey is thrilled that Finn came, but she can tell by his demeanor that he's confused about something. She steps back from him. "Rose, why don't you show Finn our back deck? Poe and I will bring some drinks outside."

Rose nods, grabbing Finn's arm and dragging him outside. After the door closes, Rey looks at Poe. "He doesn't know, does he?"

He shakes his head. "You tell me, Sunshine."

She laughs. "All I can feel from him right now is confusion. He could probably work it out on his own, but that feels wrong. We haven't really had to tell anyone. Rose just knew and so did Chewie. How does one do this – tell people?"

She feels generally flummoxed, not a normal thing for her. He approaches her, wrapping her in his arms and pressing a quick kiss to her lips, one which she deepens immediately. After a few moments, he pulls back, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone. "Well, we could just do that in front of him a few times. That'd probably do it. Less tongue though. We don't want him to have a stroke."

She laughs out loud at that. "Behave, Flyboy."

He goes to the kitchen to get the promised drinks, her following. "Hey, you're the one who went for the tongue that time, not me, Sunshine."

She blushes, rolling her eyes. "Stop it."

She tosses a small towel at him, and he just laughs, catching it. He then turns serious and clearly a little nervous. "You think it'll bother him? I know how close you two are."

"No. I don't think it will." She steps close to him, brushing his hair back from his eyes. "But even if it does, he'll have to adjust. I'm rather fond of you." His moments of insecurity always surprise her, given how cocky and self-assured he seems most of the time.

He visibly relaxes. "I'm rather fond of you, too, Sunshine."

They go outside then, Poe with the tray of drinks in one hand, his other hand on her lower back. She's amused by the possessiveness, but she knows that while she is certain that Finn wants to talk to her about the Force, he still thinks it might be more personal than that. Finn eyes them when they come out, but Poe just drops his hand and puts the tray down. They talk about the new government for a while until Rey says, "Finn, I want to show you the Force tree! Rose has seen it. Do you want to take a walk?"

She exchanges a look with Poe, who gives her a little nod. "Rosie, do you want to go down to Dad's and see the others?"

Both Finn and Rose agree, and they head outside. While they all pause to talk to some of the others who have arrived, Poe briefly takes Rey's hand, giving it a squeeze. Seeing that Finn and Rose are occupied for the moment, she softly says, "I love you, Poe."

He nods. "I love you, too."

They step apart as Finn and Rose turn back to them. He goes to Rose and leads her towards his dad's house. Rey watches them for a moment, and then she looks at Finn. "Let's take that walk. The tree is this way." She indicates the direction with her head.

As they walk, Finn seems to be thinking about something. She eventually says, "What's on your mind, Finn?"

He looks at her. "You and Poe. Something has changed." He trails off when his eyes land on her necklace. He stops walking, so she does too. Before she can ask what's going on, he reaches out and gently touches the necklace, getting the ring at the end of it between his thumb and forefinger. "This is Poe's. Isn't this Poe's?"

She nods, but she corrects softly, "It was actually his mother's wedding ring."

"And he gave it to you? I never saw him take it off before." Finn cocks his head at her.

"He did, Finn. He gave it to me months ago, and I made him the braided leather wrist-wrap that he has on." She tries to gently explain it.

After a moment, Finn clearly begins to understand. "You don't sleep in the guest room."

It's not phrased as a question, but she still answers. "No, I don't. He offered it to me when I first arrived here from Tatooine. I asked to stay with him in his room instead." She bites her lip and wraps her arms around herself. "He's worried it will bother you. I told him I didn't think it would. What is it that you were going to tell me on Pasaana, in the sand pit?"

He blinks, and then he chuckles. "Not that I'm in love with you, Rey. I love you, but like my sister. Not like he must if he gave you that ring." Before he answers her last question, he assesses her.

She realizes that he hasn't seen her in a year. Her clothes are similar, but she's learned how to make dyes and now her beige clothes, the ones that blended in on Jakku, are varying shades of green, like Yavin 4. The other change is her hair. She has stopped bothering with her severe buns, traded for a soft braid that is often loose halfway through the day. It occurs to her that she probably looks a lot softer than before.

"You look happy, Rey. At peace." He sighs. "I was going to tell you that I need your help. That I feel the Force, have since Starkiller. Kriff, maybe it's why my Stormtrooper training didn't take. I feel power inside me. Nothing like you, I'm sure, but it's there. I want to learn. From you, if you're willing to teach me."

She smiles at him and takes his hand. "I'm opening a school."

"Rose told me." He shrugs at her surprised look. "What? We've been talking a lot lately. We're trying to figure out who we are. She doesn't want to stay with the government indefinitely. She wants to have a machine shop somewhere, to settle down. Maybe help orphans or kids like her and Paige, from places like Hays Minor."

"And what about you?" Rey lifts an eyebrow at him.

"Force, you look like Poe when you do that." Finn grins, then turns serious. "I just want to find my place, Rey. I don't know where that is, not yet. Yours is here, isn't it?"

She ponders that for a moment. "For now, yes, this quiet little corner of nature is my place. But that's not because of the Force tree or because of the nature itself. It's because of Poe. My place is with him and his is with me. Location is secondary, but only somewhat. I wouldn't dream of leaving Dad." At Finn's confused look, she amends, "Kes. We won't leave Kes. Now come on." She beckons to him. "Let's go see the tree."

Over an hour later, it's getting dark as Rey and Finn make their way toward's Kes's house and the sound of a party. The main celebration is tomorrow, but the reunions taking place now make for a raucous group. There is a fire in the fire pit off of Kes's deck, and a lot of what looks like Corellian rum is being passed around.

Finn leaves her, heading over to where Rose, Jannah, and Lando are. Poe comes up to her, a worried look on his face. "Is everything all right?"

She cups his cheek in her palm. "Everything is wonderful. He's fine. He's also Force sensitive. That's what he wanted to tell me."

He visibly relaxes, and she leans in and kisses him. When she leans back, she says, "Silly man. I told you."

He nods, coming around behind her and perching his chin on her shoulder as he wraps his arms around her waist. "I know, I know. I just didn't want to hurt him. I'm glad it wasn't what I thought."

An idea comes to her, and she asks, "Is Maz here yet?"

He shakes his head. "She's on her way. Why?"

She turns in his arms. "Because when she gets here, I want her to marry us. She can. She told me before she left last time she visited."

He blinks in shock, but then he grins. "Married, huh?"

"It seems like we already are." She smiles shyly. "Might as well make it more official."

He nods. "And all of our friends are here."

"It's an awfully convenient way to tell them all about us." She agrees, smiling more confidently.

"And you already have a ring." He taps the ring on the chain around your neck.

She frowns then. "But what about one for you?"

"You have one." Kes's rough voice surprises them both, and they look over to see him there with his hand out.

Poe releases her, and he goes to his dad. "Dad, that is yours. You don't have to –"

Kes shakes his head and places the ring in Poe's hand. "It goes with that one." He motions to the ring on Rey's chain. "They need to be together again."

Rey comes up to Kes, hugging him tight. "Thank you, Dad."

He hugs her back, and then, she steps back to Poe's side. She takes the chain off, and clearly knowing what she's doing, he takes his dad's ring and puts it on the chain with his mom's. "Until the wedding."

His dad smiles and puts a hand on each of their shoulders, squeezing gently. "Take care of each other. Promise me that you'll take care of each other."

"We will, Dad." Poe has tears in his eyes when he responds, and Rey takes his hand tight in hers.

Kes then cocks his head at Poe. "And try not to piss her off, kid. She can kick your ass, you know?"

Rey snorts, and Poe just shakes his head. "Thanks for the advice, Dad. Trust me. I know."


End file.
